Bessie is a 2015HBO TV film about the Americanblues singerBessie Smith, and focuses on her transformation as a struggling young singer into "The Empress of the Blues". The film is directed byDee Rees,[1] with a screenplay by Rees, Christopher Cleveland andBettina Gilois.Queen Latifah stars as Bessie Smith, and supporting roles are played byMichael Kenneth Williams as Smith's first husband Jack Gee, andMo'Nique asMa Rainey. The film premiered on May 16, 2015.[2] By the following yearBessie was the most watched HBO original film in the network's history. The film was well received critically and received fourPrimetime Emmy Awards, winning forOutstanding Television Movie.
The Blues era started to gain popularity in the 20th century, evolving from African Americans singing songs. The blues were inspired by folk songs sung at work. Ma Rainey is known as the mother of Blues, who began her career in vaudeville and minstrel shows. Bessie Smith was introduced to Ma Rainey when she joined the tour. The film highlights the economic context of the time, focusing on the vaudeville circuit. The circuit coined the term TOBA, which stands for Tough On Black Asses. Historically, it was hard for these women to get jobs outside vaudeville because other companies preferred lighter-skinned workers. Bessie Smith would perform for both races, white and black people. But as seen through the film, Bessie cherished her time performing for her own people. At a time when the country was struggling through the Great Depression and the civil rights movement, the film highlights Bessise smith's emotions throughout. The sense that Bessie was beloved on stage yet lonely at home. The feeling that she was empty yet filled. Ultimately, this led Bessie to fight for feminism and injustice.[3]
Bessie Smith (Queen Latifah) is a young singer fromChattanooga, Tennessee. She and her siblings are orphaned when their parents, William and Laura, die, leaving their oldest sister, Viola (Khandi Alexander), to raise them. Viola is abusive and vicious and Bessie's childhood is unhappy. She along with her brother Clarence (Tory Kittles) scrape by working for local vaudeville shows. Her stage ambitions are frustrated by producers unwilling to feature dark-skinned Black women in their shows. Bessie sneaks onto traveling performerMa Rainey's (Mo'Nique) train compartment and asks to join her show. Ma Rainey takes Bessie under her wing and helps her develop her abilities until Bessie's popularity causes a schism between the two women. Bessie leaves with Clarence to start her own show.
In addition to her lover Lucille (Tika Sumpter), Bessie begins a tumultuous relationship with Jack Gee (Michael K. Williams), a security guard who later becomes her husband and manager. After a humiliating rejection from the newly formedBlack Swan Records, Jack manages to get Bessie a record deal withColumbia Records. Immense success follows, though Bessie encounters difficulties, including a stabbing attack after a show in her hometown, racism from white guests during an affluent party, and an attack during her show by theKu Klux Klan, whom she courageously chases off. Eventually, Bessie reconciles with Viola, and moves her and all of her siblings into a mansion to live with her. The move causes additional tension with Jack, and Bessie pushes him further by adopting a young boy, whom she names Jack Jr., as their son. Eventually, Lucille leaves Bessie to have her own life. Despite her own affair withbootlegger Richard Morgan (Mike Epps), Bessie is infuriated upon discovering that Jack is bankrolling his mistress, up and coming performer Gertrude Saunders. After a violent quarrel, Jack leaves her. Bessie spirals into depression and alcohol. Jack returns, kidnapping Jack Jr. with the assistance of Viola, and takes him to live with him, contending that Bessie is an unfit mother.
During theGreat Depression, Bessie's fortune evaporates, forcing her and Clarence to move into a small apartment. Bessie reconciles with Ma Rainey and takes some time to recuperate from her personal losses. Eventually, she accepts Richard's love for her and the two begin a relationship. After hearingLucille Bogan's licentious hit song "Til the Cows Come Home", Bessie performs once again and meets a youngJohn Hammond in 1932 who wishes to produce her comeback tour. Bessie's comeback is a success and she later reflects on her life while discussing the future with Richard.
Mike Epps as Richard Morgan, a romantic interest of Bessie's and later, her lifetime companion
Tory Kittles as Clarence Smith, Bessie's older brother
Tika Sumpter as Lucille, a romantic interest of Bessie's, a fictional character who is likely a composite of several of Smith's real life female companions and lovers[4]
A first draft screenplay was written by playwrightHorton Foote at a time when Columbia Pictures was slated to produce the film, but the project died when the studio became involved in a financial irregularity that threatened its existence. Mr. Foote purchased his screenplay back from Columbia and acquired the film rights from biographer Chris Albertson.[citation needed] In the early 1990s, when the possibility of producersRichard D. Zanuck andLili Fini Zanuck taking over the project arose, Albertson suggestedQueen Latifah for the lead, but the project lay dormant when financing could not be found. Upon Horton Foote's death in 2009, the script and film rights became the property of his daughter, actressHallie Foote, who took it to the Zanucks and HBO.[5] Thus, press releases claim thatBessie has been "22 years in the making." The successful production of the film was also largely due to the executive producer team that was hailed for its elite lineup. The team included multiple industry legends, including Producer and talent manager Shakim Compere, who received his first Emmy in what his colleagues have noted as an "extremely well deserved" accolade. Compere is known for being a close and vital part of Latifah's success and her management team. The executive producer team also included Randi Michel who was praised by much of the production staff and talent as being "the key playmaker" in bringing the film onto its feet. As part of the HBO deal, Queen Latifah is credited as one of the executive producers alongside her managersShakim Compere, and Randi Michel. The project was filmed inAtlanta, Georgia.[6]
An early article announcing the HBO film indicated it would be based onBessie, a 1972 biography byChris Albertson,[7] but a year later the book was not included in the film's credits or promotion, nor did the end result bear but a peripheral resemblance to Albertson's book. An HBO interview with director and screenwriter Dee Rees inquired which books were most influential to her research. Rees replied, "Blues Legacies and Black Feminism byAngela Davis;Blues Empress in Black Chattanooga: Bessie Smith and the Emerging Urban South by Michelle Scott; andJamaica Kincaid's book,Autobiography of My Mother, really informed me visually and thematically."[8]
The film received positive reviews from critics, with many critics praising the performances of Queen Latifah, Mo'Nique, and Michael K. Williams, while criticizing the use of the "Hollywood biopic" formula.Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 91% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Strong performances, led by Queen Latifah, overpower a middling script in the entertaining and informativeBessie."[9]Metacritic gave the film a score of 75 out of 100 based on 20 critic reviews.[10]
As of 2016, Bessie remained the most watched HBO original movie of all time with 1.34 million viewers and an 18–49 demo rating of 0.4.[11]
^Davis, Angela Y. (2011).Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.ISBN978-0-679-77126-5.
